Healing Aspects of Music Spiritually

     “Music is the most direct, universal and immediate mode of lifting us into higher awareness.”[1]  A close look at the great composers’ lives and music shows how often a higher inspiration sparked their efforts.  In these instances the composer became a connective channel or recipient, who was able to transmit a creatively closer communion between humankind and the Creator.  “Research into the lives of the great composers reveals many instances where their dedication to God was strong.  Mozart wrote in his journals, “I prayed to God, and the symphony began.”  J. S. Bach affirmed, “The aim and final reason for all music should be nothing else but the glory of God and the refreshment of the spirit.”  The great Bohemian composer, Antonin Dvorak, always prefaced his scores with the words “Thanks be to God,” and the devotional Austrian mystic and master composer Anton Bruckner dedicated his ninth symphony “To Beloved God.”  The motto on many of Vivaldi’s scores was “Glory to God and the blessed Mary.”[2]  Irrespective of one’s particular religious affiliation, every person is potentially spiritual in his or her deepest make-up.  Whatever their inclination or tradition, as persons decide to draw upon this spiritual impulse and soul energy in praise and gratefulness, their lives open and the divine light enters their efforts.  Lingerman believes,  “in a deeper sense, God’s glory flowing through music offers each of us a transcendent experience; a way to keep alive the connection between our soul and outer bodies.  Our soul contains all the qualities of Infinity.  Music can remind each attentive listener that we can feel in our souls the emanations of the heavens.” [3]  So it is with many of the great composers.  In the midst of many good works, they seem to have had moments when they were especially inspired.  “During these times, light poured through them, and angelic harmonies filled their being and atmosphere.  Some composers, like Handel during his writing of Messiah, even saw the Angel Hosts and gave them full credit whatever inspiration they were able to transmit into notes and melodies.  As a result, Handel did not charge for performance of Messiah.  He never even felt that he was the composer of it.”[4]  Caroline Myss Ph.D. thinks  “sacred texts tell us that our life’s purpose is to understand and develop the power of our spirit, power that is vital to our mental and physical well-being.”[5]   In Don Campbell’s Music and Miracles, he believes, that “music allows access to the unconscious and inner depths of the spirit.  He suggests listening to the masterpieces of baroque, classical, romantic and impressionistic eras because the composers have encoded many of their works with messages of divine inspiration and unity.”[6]  Being aware of music’s many properties, causes one to feel that music should be considered a sacred and mystical thing.